tdr
05-30-2002, 07:07 AM
Watching "Beaver and Ivanhoe" yesterday, there is a strong comparison between that ep and one from the previous season, "The Garage Painters." In both eps Beaver gets into a book about long-gone ways of life, and tries to imitate the main character by trying out the 'neat stuff' he read about them doing. Of course Beaver finds it's not nearly as fun and simple as he envisioned. But it's easy to imagine someone, during LITB's original run, would know what would happen when Beaver started to read Ivanhoe, based on the ep where he read Tom Sawyer.
There are other examples of this recycling in a general way. In "Beaver the Model," Beav is conned by Eddie into sending his picture to a bogus modeling agency, then getting on the hook for $30 because he agreed to their 'terms and conditions.' This plot is repeated in the ep, "Beaver's Accordian," which should be on TVLand around the end of next week. Just as Eddie told Beaver his dad 'doesn't want anyone else in the family making more money than him' to get Beaver to sign up with the modeling agency, Eddie uses the same tactic to persuade Beaver to send for his 'free trial' for an accordian. And then, of course, Beaver does not have the money to send the accordian back in time.
There are 3 eps where Beaver gets into trouble and Wally comes along trying to act as a substitute father and bail him out. Then there are 2 later eps in which Gilbert spends the night while Wally has plans to go to a late party, and there is miscommunication that causes trouble.
It's cool that a show that ended almost 40 years ago and is really so predicatable in its characters and plots, is still so popular among old fans, and many new ones. LITB doesn't startle a viewer with the unexpected, but that must be a quality that most fans like about it.
There are other examples of this recycling in a general way. In "Beaver the Model," Beav is conned by Eddie into sending his picture to a bogus modeling agency, then getting on the hook for $30 because he agreed to their 'terms and conditions.' This plot is repeated in the ep, "Beaver's Accordian," which should be on TVLand around the end of next week. Just as Eddie told Beaver his dad 'doesn't want anyone else in the family making more money than him' to get Beaver to sign up with the modeling agency, Eddie uses the same tactic to persuade Beaver to send for his 'free trial' for an accordian. And then, of course, Beaver does not have the money to send the accordian back in time.
There are 3 eps where Beaver gets into trouble and Wally comes along trying to act as a substitute father and bail him out. Then there are 2 later eps in which Gilbert spends the night while Wally has plans to go to a late party, and there is miscommunication that causes trouble.
It's cool that a show that ended almost 40 years ago and is really so predicatable in its characters and plots, is still so popular among old fans, and many new ones. LITB doesn't startle a viewer with the unexpected, but that must be a quality that most fans like about it.